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SIGNAL 1.00K. No. 425,549; Patented Apr. 15.1890.

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E. S. PIPER. SIGNAL Loox.

N0. 425,549. Y Patented Apr. 15, 1890.

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B. S. PIPER. SIG-NAL LOCK. No. 425,549. PatentedApr. 15.1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

EDXVARD SPENCER PIPER, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

SIGNAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,549, dated April 15, 1890.

Application led March 1l, 1889. Serial No. 302,759. (No model.)

To all whom tn/tay concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD SPENCER PIPER, manufacturer, of the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented a certain new and Improved Signal-Lock, of which the following is a speciiication.

The invention relates to simple locking mechanism to be nsed in connection with semaphores located at a swingbridge or at a point where two railroads cross each other; and the object of the-invention is to render it p impossible to open the swing-bridgeor lower the dan ger-si gn al at the crossing without opening a switch-in the case of the swing-bridge setting the danger-signal, and in the ease of the cross-roads locking the danger-signals on the road across which the train is to pass.

It consists, essentially, in attaching a sliding bolt or bar to the end of the lever which operates the semaphore in such a position that when it is applied to a swing-bridge the said bridge cannot be opened until the semaphore is set at danger and the safety-switch is opened, the opening of the bridge locking the semaphore at danger, so that the dangersignal cannot be lowered until the bridge is reclosed. lVhen applied to the semaphores at the point where two roads cross, the lowerlng of the semaphore to indicate that its road is clear locks both of the semaphores on the line about to be crossed.

Figure l is a perspective view of a swingbridge, showing the application of my semaphore-locking device. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a railroad-crossing, showing the application of my semaphore-locking device. Fig 3 is an enlarged detail of the locking mechanism in connection with the semaphore at a swing-bridge. Fig. i is an enlarged detail of the locking mechanism when it is applied to the semaphore at a railroad-crossing.

In the drawings similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the diiterent figures; but for the purpose of this specilication I propose to rst explain the application of the device to a swing-bridge, and then describe its application to the semaphores used at a railroad-crossing.

A represents the main track, which in Fig. l leads across the swingbridge B. The switches C are located one on each side of the bridge,

andare each operated by the motion of its respective semaphore D, arranged and operated in the ordinary manner. The sheaf or sprocket-wheels E are each carried in suitable brackets F, located one at each end of the swing-bridge B on the end of; the permanent way.

Gis a bolt or bar connected to the operating-lever, secured on one side of wheel E. A chain H passes around the wheel E, and is connected to the operating mechanism of the semaphore D. Y

I is a dog having a weighted end and pivotedin position and at such a point that when the bridge B is opened, as shown, the weighted end of the dog I causes it to assume a position immediatelyT in front of the bolt G, and thus prevent the said bolt from moving.

J is a finger connected to and projecting from the end of the bridge B in such a position that when thesaid bridge Bis closed the 'said'nger pushes 'upon and turns the dog I,

so that it shall be clear of the end of the bolt or bar, which, when the said bridge is properly closed, may be pushed into a proper socket formed inthe end of the bridge, and thus act as a bolt to lock the bridge in position.

I may mention here that the bolt or bar G is so connected to the lever that when the semaphore is set by the motion of the said lever at danger the bolt or bar G is simultaneously withdrawn from its socket in the end of the bridge, leaving the said bridge free to swing open, and as the opening of the bridge causes the dog I to turn on its pivot, so as to bring it in front of the end of the bolt or bar Gr, the said bolt or bar is securely locked, and as a consequence the semaphore cannot be lowered from its danger position until the bridge B is reclosed and the dog I is moved clear of the end of the bolt or bar, which must be moved into its socket before the semaphore is lowered to indicate that the bridge is closed. The switch C, connected to the semaphore D, is operated simultaneously with the bolt G. Consequently the said switch is opened when the semaphore is set at danger and closed when the semaphore is lowered.

In Fig. 2, which indicates the application of my invention to the semaphores at a railroad crossing, the action of my improved mechanism is exactly' the same, the only difference IOC being that the lowering of the semaphore on one line locks the semaphores on the crossing line, so that they cannot possibly be opened until theVdanger-signal on the open line is raised. The switches C are worked in the same mannenand the bolts G are similarly connected to the operating-levers; but the bolts and the operating-levers are concentrated in a signal-house K, and the tails of the bolts are arranged so that they intersect each other, as shown in Fig. 4.

It is well known to all railroad men that the normal position of semaphores is at 'danger.

In Fig. 4 the levers 6 and 7 are set to indicate that their respective semaphores are in their normal position-ViZ., at danger while the lever marked 9 is supposed to be set in the position in which it would appear were its signal lowered from the danger-point. It will be seen that the bolt G, which is operated by the lever 9, extends between the ends of the bolts Gr, operated by the levers 6 and 7, and it will be noticed that neither of the said levers 6 or 7 can be moved until the lever 9 is operated, so as to draw its bolt from between the ends of the levers 6 and 7, and which motion of the lever 9 must set its semaphore at the danger-point. i

It will be noticed on reference to Fig. 4: that it is impossible to lower a signal without securely locking the operating mechanism of the semaphores on the line crossing the line on which the semaphore has been lowered.

It will be seen from this description that in its application to the point where two roads cross each other and in its application to the swingebridge the lowering of a semaphore to indicate that the road is open for traffic Will simultaneously lock the. mechanism, which might accidentally be moved to indicate that the road is clear.

What I .claim as my invention is In a signal-lock, the combination of the main track, the switches leading in opposite directionstherefrom,the semaphore-s arranged on opposite sides of the track, the connection between the semaphores and the switches for operating said switches, the turn-bridge in the main track, the locks operated by the semaphores for locking the turn-bridge, the detents for the locks, and the iingers at, each end of the bridge on opposite sides thereof for releasing the detents, all substantially as shown and described.

Toronto, February 28, 1889.

EDWARD SPENCER PIPER. 

